Poet Karren LaLonde Alenier as author of The Steiny Road to Operadom: The Making of American Operas continues with her operatic proclivities as she launched her latest poetry collection The Anima of Paul Bowles in Los Angeles in 2016. Amy King saaid, Anima “makes a lyrical dive into the historical corpus of two major 2oth-century writer/artists.” More info: karren@alenier.com.

Here are
“Roastbeef.” stanzas 18 through 21 with a 161-word count. Among the topics
addressed in this post are: the bones of contention between Gertrude Stein and
her brother Leo, kitchen items or natural elements that stand in for Alice
Toklas, kind as stand in for gender, Stein’s gaming and cubism, what
comes in fours (e.g. winds and humors) and the four Passover questions, Apollinaire’s
and Stein’s interest in the fourth dimension, and the gematria of four which points to door.

The time
when there are four choices and there are four choices in a difference, the
time when there are four choices there is a kind and there is a kind. There is
a kind. There is a kind. Supposing there is a bone, there is a bone. Supposing
there are bones. There are bones. When there are bones there is no supposing
there are bones. There are bones and there is that consuming. The kindly way to
feel separating is to have a space between. This shows a likeness.

Hope in
gates, hope in spoons, hope in doors, hope in tables, no hope in daintiness and
determination. Hope in dates.

Tin is
not a can and a stove is hardly. Tin is not necessary and neither is a
stretcher. Tin is never narrow and thick.

Color is
in coal. Coal is outlasting roasting and a spoonful, a whole spoon that is full
is not spilling. Coal any coal is copper.

“What are
spoons? Could Stein be playing with words and meaning Spoonerisms?” Peter Treanor

THE BONE OF
CONTENTION BETWEEN GERTRUDE AND LEO

To continue
with the theme of hidden relationships that began with earlier stanzas of
“Roastbeef.”, the Steiny Road Poet offers that stanza 18 with its seven
repetitions of the word bone, might
be pointing to the notion of bone of
contention. Here’s what Peter Treanor
had to say:

“I was
wondering if Stein is using bone and bones in the sense of a disagreement/argument,
as in ‘I’ve got a bone to pick with you.’

“Is she
saying there are four choices in a difference (disagreement)? There are bones
of contention that are all consuming. The best way to separate is to have some
space?

“This seems to
point to a row and separation from Leo, all those kinds in there, kind=alike and kin.”

THE OBJECTS
THAT STAND IN FOR ALICE

While
Gertrude’s failing relationship with her brother Leo may be hidden in how she
presents this subject in the text of Tender
Buttons, the actual hidden relationship is her marriage to Alice
Toklas. Stanzas 19 through 21 might be
pointing to Toklas, who, in other discussions, particularly those about the
subpoems of section 1 “Objects”, has been associated with objects in the
kitchen, such as what Stein offers in these “Roastbeef.” stanzas, as spoons, tables and stove but also
as the element copper.

On the subject
of copper and other elements mentioned stanzas 20 and 21, here’s what Karren Alenier [a.k.a. Steiny] had to
say in the ModPo discussion forum:

“I'm
thinking that the burning embers of coal look like copper in color. Copper is a
stand in for Toklas who is Stein's spiritual home & the bread maker.

“I think tin is also a stand in for
Toklas. Tin has 10 stable isotopes which puts it above all other elements in
the periodic table. It is silvery in appearance.

Isotope means at its semantic roots in the same place (in the periodic
table).

That’s why I
think it points to Alice. It also has a relationship with copper.”

STEIN’S KIND

Steiny thinks
it is imperative now to address in stanza 18 Stein’s repetition of kind (four times) with the additional kindly that follows up. Steiny’s theory
as developed in thinking about the use of kind
in section 1 “Objects” starting with the opening subpoem “A
carafe, that is a blind glass.” is that gender
can be substituted for the word kind.
In this case, the overpowering repetition of there is a kind means that Stein is extremely concerned with and
adamant about her own gender identification. That also plays into there is a bone, which might be slang
for penis. Again Stein identifying as the male partner in her marriage with
Toklas relates to a hidden relationship. In the contention with Leo, he is
opposed to the marriage fearing that his sister will bring shame on herself.

The repetition
of kind is also amplified by the
other meanings of kind (a class of, type of, agreeable, loving) as well as the
root word kin (family) as Treanor
points out. All of these meanings showing a likeness
or similarity, resemblance, relatedness.

There are also
more abstract ways of appreciating these stanzas and some of the following
comments relate to gaming, art, and ways of thinking.

Emily W commented,

“Are the four
choices the face of the cube? and the four other choices on the opposite
face?”

“What I notice
is that everything is concrete, solid, there in the world, except hope, except
daintiness and determination, which have no hope. I'm puzzled by
‘dates.’ Are they the food or outings?”

Alenier answered,

“Surprisingly,
in the studies last year of ‘Objects,’ there were various kinds of games
encountered, especially card games. What has promise is not always a sure
thing. Chance comes into play.

“Maybe hope
in dates is pointing to hope inundates. [Steiny asks could this be a
potential Spoonerism?] There seems to be a surge of this emotional state of
hope but some of these items, like gates and doors, seem to be hindrances.

“I like your
idea that the four choices might be a cube. Could be dice, no? I think gamblers
call dice bones. I'm going to look.”

Here Steiny
stops to appreciate Emily W’s comment about seeing the four faces of a cube and
how this relates to Gertrude Stein being influenced by Pablo Picasso’s new
style of art that came to be known as cubism. Now back to discussion forum
comments being made by Alenier:

Emily W
also commented, “If you count daintiness and determination
as one, then there are 6 things, perfect for dice. But there is still hope in
solid things not in daintiness and determination.”

Intrigued by
this kind of game, Alenier offered:

“Hope in
gates, hope in spoons, hope in doors, hope in tables, no hope in daintiness and
determination. Hope in dates.

“Ok, so the
face of the dice show: gates, spoons, doors, tables, dates, and
daintiness/determination.

“Or the
face of the dice show: gates, spoons, doors, tables, daintiness, and
determination with a surge of hope (not dates). It’s a little bit
different game.

“So what
happens if you roll gates--something obstructs you from winning as does doors.
Rolling doors seems worse than gates because doors are a
bigger obstruction because you usually can't see through it. Spoons seem
positive, that surely you would receive something. If you roll daintiness
that must be rewarding. The root meaning of dainty is excellent and worthy.
But what would determination get you, an opportunity to barter?”

The sudden spoon is the same in no
size. The sudden spoon is the wound in the decision.

“Great
research, Karren!

“I had no
idea that dice originally

had 4 flat
landable faces

& 2
rounded ones.

“Our modern
6 flat-faced dice

map out
three dimensions

a pair of
opposite faces for each axis

left-right

back-forth

up-down

“There is
something mystical

in being
unable to firmly settle

on one of
these dimensions

“Something
we feel in our bones—

hope”

Treanor asked, “What comes in fours?”

He answered
with more questions,

“Four
directions of the compass, four suits of playing cards? If the bones are dice,
what game do you play with cards and dice? I found Poker Dice, online, I wonder if there are any others,
maybe one where you actually play with both?

And time
seems to be important in the four choices, does the amount or type of choice
change with time? Is she just writing about a now when there are four choices,
will there be less or more choices at another time?

“But maybe
bones are referring to skeletal bones, ‘There is a bone’ is repeated twice. Is
that 2 singular bones or the 1 bone mentioned twice? ‘There are bones’ is
repeated 5 times.

“Does she
mean supposing there is a bone THEN there is a bone or is she just repeating
the phrase, echoing it?

“There is a
lot of ‘supposing’ (2 times) but ‘no supposing’ once. What the reason for
the switch between supposing and no supposing (there are bones) is really
unclear, why is there supposing in one sentence but no supposing in the next,
what is the difference in circumstances of the bones that has caused this
change?

“There’s
lots of switching between there is and there are, (states of the verb to be),
of being and what brings things (bones) into being. Time, choice, supposing, no
supposing.”

While Alenier did not have specific answers
to Treanor’s questions, she offered this reading:

“I'm still stuck on the 4 choices. I wanted
to relate them to the 4 causes Aristotle defined but I don't think that works
here. But it does have the feel of the 4 brothers on Passover dealing with why
is this night different from all others. Plus the Seder plate has the symbolic
bone (of contention--slavery, difference of belief, independence, manner of
eating).”

Judy Meibach
said,

“Karren—I
like how you infer the 4 from Passover—and the Seder—the liberal feminist
community has taken the 4 sons and made it to the 4 daughters as well. Then
there are the 4 questions—which we can elaborate for ever on—then of course, there
is the childhood memory of those who said that prayer, one of the most famous—in
Yiddish. Was GS the youngest? It is customary for the youngest to
sing them—great tune!”

Mmm, Steiny
wonders whether Gertrude, who was the youngest of five children, ever got to
sing the four questions. She was familiar with the ritual no doubt.

Alenier added,

“I'm looking
at these four Passover questions I found, and think number three was important
to Gertrude given this subpoem ‘Roastbeef.’

“2 quick things, Pete, about
that article—Apollinaire was anti-mimetic (Stein is also described this way)
and Perloff says Apollinaire understood when no one else did about the 4th
dimension!”

Here Steiny will add a few
words regarding anti-mimetic and the 4th dimension. Apollinaire and Stein were
well matched in their creative uniqueness. Stein did not imitate because she
took the advice of William James, her Harvard professor. James said if you want
to be a genius, you must break away from habit. Apollinaire did not have the
advantages of Stein with a huge family and exceptional education but he was a risk
taker and thoroughly immersed in the experimentation of the visual art world,
including Futurism, Surrealism, Cubism, and Dadaism. Steiny’s theory is that
Apollinaire’s experiments excited Stein. For example, Apollinaire’s collection
of poetry Alcools was written without
punctuation while Stein’s Tender Buttons has some odd punctuation, like subpoem
titles with periods.

Apparently the 4th
dimension was popularized in 1904 by the publication of C. H. Hinton’s book, The Fourth Dimension. Steiny found a detailed
essay by Jon Crabb, an art historian specializing in the fin-de-siècle. Crabb
wrote:

“Whilst most suited
to the visual arts, the fourth dimension also made inroads into literature,
with Apollinaire and his calligrammes
arguably a manifestation. Gertrude Stein with her strikingly visual, mentally
disorienting poetry was also accused of writing under its influence; something
she refuted in an interview with the Atlantic
Monthly in 1935: “Somebody has said that I myself am striving for a fourth
dimension in literature. I am striving for nothing of the sort and I am not
striving at all but only gradually growing and becoming steadily more aware of
the way things can be felt and known in words.” If nothing else, the refutation
at least indicates the idea’s long-lasting presence in artistic circles.”

Keeton
responded:

“There
are

the 4
elements

the 4 humors

the 4 winds

the 4
evangelists

these are
all of a kind”

Treanor
countered,

“Oh so many
things in groups of four, we are spoiled for choice. Four is the only number with
the same number of characters in its name as the number it denotes.Form
and function in harmony with four.”

Taking a look at Jewish numerology, Steiny found the following on the number four: 4-Four is a recurrent number in both exoteric and esoteric Jewish traditions. The Passover Seder isparticularly structured around fours: the Four Questions, the Four Sons, and four cups of wine. There are four cardinal directions and there are four Matriarchs. Four is also a common factor in esoteric interpretations: four angels surround the Throne of Glory, there are four kingdoms of the eschaton, and the famous four Sages who enter Paradise.The number 4 derives its meaning from creation. On the fourth day of what is called 'creation week' God completed the material universe. On this day he brought into existence our sun, the moon, and all the stars (Genesis 1:14 - 19). Their purpose was not only to give off light, but also to divide the day from the night on earth, thus becoming a basic demarcation of time. They were also made to be a type of signal that would mark off the days, years and seasons.In Jewish numerology (gematria), four is associated with the letter dalet which means door or opening.Stein seemed
to like the number four and later in her writing career, she had such titles
for her work as Four Saints in Three Acts
and Four in America.

About the Poet

is author of seven collections of poetry, including Looking for Divine Transportation (The Bunny and the Crocodile Press), winner of the 2002 Towson University Prize for Literature, and her latest, The Anima of Paul Bowles from MadHat Press. Her poetry and fiction have been published in such magazines as: the Mississippi Review, Jewish Currents, and Poet Lore. Gertrude Stein Invents a Jump Early On, her opera with composer William Banfield and Encompass New Opera Theatre artistic director Nancy Rhodes premiered at New York City’s Symphony Space Leonard Nimoy Thalia in June 2005. She writes a monthly column on opera for Scene4 Magazine at scene4.com.